We Have A Lot To Look Forward To – Pardew

When you consider how well Newcastle played last Saturday, we suppose we should be happier than we are right now, but that defeat, however tough it was on Newcastle, has left us dropping one place in the Premier League and both Southampton and Aston Villa – two clubs who were below us in the league before the last round of games – gained 3 points on us.

Alan Pardew – we have a lot to look forward to
But it’s also true that we have teams very close together, and we’re 4 points out of 11th place and four points clear of 3rd bottom place.

So it will depend how many wins we can get in our next four games – Southampton at home, Swansea away, Stoke at home and Wigan away – 3 wins in those four games would see us on 36 points and in a decent league position after 30 games played.

“They are taking this seriously.” “To come over early shows that.” “We have gone up a level in terms of performance.” “We had the game where we wanted it at Spurs.”

“But Gareth Bale was the difference.” “There are a lot of things to be pleased about.” “We definitely look a stronger side, there’s no doubt it.” “We have a lot to look forward to.”

For the game on Thursday night we expect both French signings Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Massadio Haidara to make their starting debuts for the club – so we’ll have a chance to see what these two defenders play like in a Newcastle shirt.

We need to win the game, and we can still get through this tie and get past the Ukraine side – but the Southampton game must still remain the top priority.

sirtoon – i agree , i really think we should give this cup a real go , i know epl is priority but if we get near the 35 mark with a good few games to go , i think we should give it as good as weve got , no difference in finishing 8th or 17th ! I WANT TO GO TO AMSTERDAM! What a experience that would be . . . .

If Yanga plays a stormer I wouldn’t be surprised to see him keep his spot! He is better than Colo, the only thing that would put colo above him in selection is his league experience in England and the captains armband.

repost on santon –
santon seems to be the fittest player in our team in terms of not getting injured and his no stop bombing forward ! he never seems to break a sweat , when every1 else looks shattered ! i do feel we miss enrique though , jose made jonas look good as spidey would hold up the ball pass back to jose who would whip a cracking ball in , its so obvious what santon is going to do and his crossing isnt great , i know it was a lovely ball for jonas against chealsea but i do feel he would be a great rb, he is so young and bags of potential

We matched spurs i thought on the weekend for large parts of the game.

They rotate 2-4 players for europa….thats what we should do in my opinion.

Tiredness isn’t the killer with europa, it’s playing 2 different teams so you lose the full week to prepare for the weekend game but by rotatin 9/10 players you lose rhythm in your play too…so there is no real benefit.

Play everyone fit….if somebody is clearly tired/struggling/tight then rest them but if not play them.

Rainrix – He is extremely defensive mate! What I would call a proper full back. Santon is very much in the winger / wing back mould.

He is a cracking signing mate. As I mentioned the other day, I watched Nancy play at the weekend (his old club) and they fell apart without him down the left hand side. Yes he is still young, but man that lad has presence and composure way beyond his years!

I wish Pardew would just shut up and concentrate on his job. He has yet to prove himself this season and blabbering to the press is not going to his case. Maybe after a few wins but we are not on a winning streak and still not completely safe in the Premier League.

Torq, I don’t doubt your judgement on yanga, but is it not more likely he will be rotated for taylor in the prem, for the rest of this season, until Colo leaves? Maybe give them a few games together near the end of the season, as they will be first choice pairing next year?

pardew is doing his usual in interviews- yes bale was good, but was he the only reason we got beat? na. pards reckons he was the difference. He was the best player in a mediocre spurs side, but their were lots of reasons why we didnt win- his tactics one of them, but that is pardew- trying to convince everybody , we were brilliant but bale was better. we wernt brilliant, spurs were there for the taking, pardew didnt see the opportunity.

In honor of two dedicated Newcastle fans, who lost their lives supporting Newcastle United, when their passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday July 17th, 2014 by rebels, as they were traveling to support the team in New Zealand.

We will never forget them.

Fantasy League

Mark Harding has again set up the Fantasy League for our readers for this season.

The new code is 3641-1656 and people can set up the league here:

http://fantasy.premierleague.com

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Health Update - 4 Feb, 2015

I had another battery of medical tests early last week, and the results show my PSA count as undetectable, which means the prostate cancer is still under control, and there is no trace of cancer in the body.

I'm very pleased about that!

Ed Harrison

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What Is A Football Club?

“What is a club in any case?"

“Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it.

It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes."

“It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city."

“It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”